Congressional report adds Italy, Switzerland (!) to piracy watchlist

Swiss can download unauthorized copies of copyrighted works for personal use.

On Thursday, the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus released its annual watchlist report, naming the world’s worst offending nations. The usual suspects (China, Russia, Ukraine) top the list, but there are two new additions: Italy and Switzerland. Canada and Spain remained on the list of "countries in transition."

So why is the Helvetican Confederation, a state best known for its robust financial sector and producing watches, müsli, and delicious chocolate, a target for piracy?

In the words of the Caucus, the Alpine nation’s copyright law is "inadequate, making it a home for rogue sites whose clear purpose is to facilitate and enable massive unauthorized making available of pirated material."

The Caucus is likely taking issue with a Swiss law that currently permits unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material for personal use; that law was upheld following a government review in 2011.

"[Swiss law] must be updated to provide for meaningful enforcement efforts against digital piracy," the new report states. "Until these changes are made, Switzerland will continue to be a magnet for rogue sites. Switzerland must ensure basic accountability for enterprises that profit from widespread infringement and clarify that copying from illegal sources is illegal. In doing so, Switzerland will fulfill its obligations under the WIPO Internet Treaties and other international copyright norms."

While the Caucus did not mention any particular sites, it is noteworthy that Switzerland is home to RapidShare, a Swiss file-sharing site based in Baar, just south of Zurich. As we’ve reported in the past, RapidShare has faced scrutiny from German courts, has taken actions to combat piracy, and even took on a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm in 2010.

"RapidShare understands that this action does not pertain to RapidShare," wrote Daniel Raimer, the company's general counsel, in an e-mail to Ars on Thursday evening, after this story initially posted. "We continue to work with the content industry to mitigate copyright abuse and make our services as accountable and transparent as they can possibly be."

Meanwhile, Italy was added to the list, as for years, it has been among the top European nations when it comes to file-sharing. The new report laments that in Italy, "there has not been a sufficient legislative framework for addressing the problem, or clear leadership in developing one."

However both of these European states’ record on piracy pales in comparison to China, which the report notes, must "move toward a functioning legitimate marketplace for music, movies, software, video games, and written works."

As we’ve noted many times before, the case of pirates doing serious damage to the established American recording and film industries, is far more complex than sometimes depicted by those industries.